While billions of pesos in foreign aid continue to pour into the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) under the guise of peacebuilding and development, a silent crisis deepens in the shadows — the marginalization and displacement of the Non-Moro Indigenous Peoples (NMIPs).
The recent Memorandum of Agreement between the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) to fund reforestation and agroforestry in former Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) camps may be framed as a climate and sustainability initiative. But for the NMIP communities living in or near Camp Bader and Camp Omar in Maguindanao, this is not just a development project — it is another looming threat to their ancestral domains and way of life.
As Timuay Letecio Datuwata, a respected Teduray leader, gravely warned, “This will favor the former Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces (BIAF) and will trigger another wave of displacement for us, especially if the project will be implemented within the area of Camp Bader and Camp Omar in Maguindanao.” His concern is not unfounded. Timuay Letecio also stressed that “the harassment has intensified after the election,” painting a grim picture of how political power and development funds are being wielded as tools for furthering exclusion and intimidation — not unity or peace.
Let us be clear: the concept of Camp Transformation — converting former rebel camps into productive and peaceful communities — is noble in principle. But the implementation, skewed in favor of former combatants without meaningful inclusion of NMIPs, tells another story. Development has become synonymous with dispossession. Peace has come at the cost of the rights of the original stewards of the land.
Where is the justice when funds intended to promote resilience and sustainability are used to erase Indigenous claims and cultures? Where is the equality promised under the Bangsamoro Organic Law when NMIPs, who are not parties to the conflict but are instead victims of both state neglect and armed struggle, are repeatedly pushed to the margins?
International development agencies like UNDP and financial institutions like the World Bank cannot continue to turn a blind eye. Their support for BARMM’s transformation must not come at the cost of Indigenous displacement. True peace cannot be built on the ruins of one community for the benefit of another. These agencies must engage in due diligence — not just environmental assessments, but social and cultural impact assessments that recognize the rights of Indigenous communities and protect them from further harm.
And what of the national government? What is the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) doing to safeguard the ancestral lands of the NMIPs? How is the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) ensuring that the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (IPRA) is respected in BARMM territory? Are these agencies complicit in their silence?
BARMM, having achieved autonomy and self-determination through decades of struggle, must not repeat the sins of the centralized state. It must not become the new oppressor of Indigenous Peoples. Equality is not about replacing one power with another — it is about ensuring that every community, especially the most vulnerable, is heard, respected, and protected.
This is not just about trees and livelihood programs. This is about the very soul of peace and justice in Mindanao. If we allow these patterns of exclusion to persist, we risk sowing the seeds of future conflict — not peace.
Development must be inclusive. Peace must be shared. And the ancestral domain of the NMIPs must be recognized and respected — not bulldozed by bulldozers wearing the mask of aid.